Jarzynski equality for the Jepsen gas

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the application of the Jarzynski equality to a solvable one-dimensional ideal gas model undergoing uniform expansion or compression, comparing analytical results with molecular dynamics simulations of a two-dimensional dilute gas.

Contribution

It provides an exact analytical illustration of the Jarzynski equality in a simple gas model and compares it with numerical simulations of a more complex system.

Findings

Analytical probability density of work matches simulation results

Jarzynski equality holds for the ideal gas model

Insights into work fluctuations during gas expansion or compression

Abstract

We illustrate the Jarzynski equality on the exactly solvable model of a one-dimensional ideal gas in uniform expansion or compression. The analytical results for the probability density $P(W)$ of the work $W$ performed by the gas are compared with the results of molecular dynamics simulations for a two-dimensional dilute gas of hard spheres.